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Confucianism, a Chinese ethical and philosophical system, is based on
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31 Oct 2018, 05:08

1

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A

B

C

D

E

Difficulty:

75% (hard)

Question Stats:

54%(01:51) correct 46%(01:53) wrong based on 133 sessions

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Confucianism, a Chinese ethical and philosophical system, is based on five virtues: Humanness, Righteousness or Justice, Propriety or Etiquette, Knowledge, and Integrity. Confucius, the individual behind the philosophy, also introduces the idea of meritocracy, leading to the introduction of the imperial examination system in China. The system allowed anyone who passed a morality examination to become a government officer. Confucian governments, thus, attempted to replace “nobility of blood” with “nobility of virtue”. As a result, Confucian governments, however virtuous and moral, remained undemocratic.

Which of the following is an assumption made by the argument above?

A- Not every citizen participated in the Imperial examination system and hence government officers consequently chosen did not represent ‘voice of people’.

B- Ideas such as imperial examination system are central to the philosophy of democracy.

C- Confucian governments are not as effective as democratic governments.

D- Passing a morality exam leads to a non-democratic government.

E- It is not possible for a government to maintain “nobility of virtue” while ensuring a fair representation of the views of entire cross section of society

Re: Confucianism, a Chinese ethical and philosophical system, is based on
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31 Oct 2018, 05:26

I found this one to be pretty though but went with E for the following reasons:

A nobility of virtue is based on people/government officials adhering to a certain moral codex which is deemed "virtuous" to gain their position.However, as only certain morals/decisions/views are considered virtuous, the entire spectrum of the population with all the different opinions and beliefs cannot be sufficiently represented.

Basically, as there is a certain view considered to be "correct", only followers of this viewpoint will make it into government positions.

Confucianism, a Chinese ethical and philosophical system, is based on
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31 Oct 2018, 05:35

rohan2345 wrote:

Confucianism, a Chinese ethical and philosophical system, is based on five virtues: Humanness, Righteousness or Justice, Propriety or Etiquette, Knowledge, and Integrity. Confucius, the individual behind the philosophy, also introduces the idea of meritocracy, leading to the introduction of the imperial examination system in China. The system allowed anyone who passed a morality examination to become a government officer. Confucian governments, thus, attempted to replace “nobility of blood” with “nobility of virtue”. As a result, Confucian governments, however virtuous and moral, remained undemocratic.

Which of the following is an assumption made by the argument above?

A- Not every citizen participated in the Imperial examination system and hence government officers consequently chosen did not represent ‘voice of people’.

B- Ideas such as imperial examination system are central to the philosophy of democracy.

C- Confucian governments are not as effective as democratic governments.

D- Passing a morality exam leads to a non-democratic government.

E- It is not possible for a government to maintain “nobility of virtue” while ensuring a fair representation of the views of entire cross section of society

A long passage! Note that there is a more 'direct', factual logical chain:: from meritocracy to examination to becoming an officer; and a more 'inferential' and 'judgemental' one: that this replaces 'blood' with 'virtue' but is still undemocratic.As there are many possible assumptions in such a long argument, we'll look straight to the answer choices, an Alternative approach.

A- Not every citizen participated in the Imperial examination system and hence government officers consequently chosen did not represent ‘voice of people’. The argument does not rely on 'the number of citizens who participated' (maybe everyone participated, we don't know) but rather on a general claim that choosing 'anyone who passes' is undemocratic (for unexplained reasons).

B- Ideas such as imperial examination system are central to the philosophy of democracy. If this were an assumption, it would have supported the opposite conclusion - that the govm't is democratic (because it has such an examination)

C- Confucian governments are not as effective as democratic governments. The question of 'efficacy' is entirely irrelevant to the passage

D- Passing a morality exam leads to a non-democratic government. No. All we know is that the morality exam didn't help switch from a non-democratic to a democratic, not that it leads to non-democratic govm't.

E- It is not possible for a government to maintain “nobility of virtue” while ensuring a fair representation of the views of entire cross section of society This is the only viable choice and must be correct. Additionally, if we read the passage literally, i.e. 'replaced blood with virtue.... and therefore remained undemocratic' then the author must be assuming (for unknown reasons) that virtue and democracy cannot go together._________________

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19 Jan 2019, 07:18

Let me try :Crux: C governments are not really democratic. democracy means equal opportunity to all. so basically equal opportunity has not been provided to all citizens for beacoming a government officer.

Since there is a very large gap on this one. Anything that explains the gap will be our answer. Startegy---> Negate each choice by asking yourself. Is this really necessary ? Even if this is true, does the conc still stand ? SO What ?

A- Not every citizen participated in the Imperial examination system and hence government officers consequently chosen did not represent ‘voice of people’. This is not relevant as participation has nothing to do with opportunity. Anyone could have applied but still some people did not. Thats their problem. How does it make the country undemocratic ?

B- Ideas such as imperial examination system are central to the philosophy of democracy. Does not matter on what philosophy is the examination system based on. Conclusion is that the country is undemocratic .

C- Confucian governments are not as effective as democratic governments. Effective ????? OUT

D- Passing a morality exam leads to a non-democratic government. Future event OUT Also, dies not bridge in as an assumption

E- It is not possible for a government to maintain “nobility of virtue” while ensuring a fair representation of the views of entire cross section of society. You my girl !!! IN Totally explains why the country is not democratic.
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